1985 Star Co. Slam Dunk Supers Group Photo/Checklist
Tonight is one of my favorite nights in sports. The NBA's Dunk, 3-Pont and Skills contests are tonight on TNT. I'm really excited as it should be a fun night featuring some the NBA's best. Since this is All-Star Weekend, I thought I would highlight one of my favorite All-Star themed cards from way back.
This 1985 Star Co. Slam Dunk Supers Group Photo/Checklist card is a Star Co. card from Michael Jordan's rookie year. It also includes some of the best high flyers of the 80's including Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins. Oh, and the card is also a giant 5 x 7 inch goliath. Total Awesomeness! Sure, the '85 Star Co. Jordan XRC would be nice, but who has $2,500 lying around to spend on a trading card? I certainly don't, so this Group Photo card from Jordan's rookie year is the next best thing.
The Star Co. cards are some of my personal favorites, just not my wallet's favorites. They feature bold colors and some pretty decent photography. The Slam Dunk Supers set has a total of nine single player cards of the participants from the '85 NBA Slam Dunk Contest plus this group photo for a total of ten cards. The set has a book value of $200. Much of that value is tied up in the Jordan single, but the group photo card has a respectable $40 book value. I've seen these group photo cards all over the price spectrum on the secondary markets like eBay, but here's a crazy Buy Now eBay auction of a complete set in it's original packaging (click here).
Hope you enjoyed this All-Star Weekend themed Jordan Collection post. Have fun watching all the festivities and of course… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".
Here's an item I picked up well over a year ago that I was waiting for just the right time to post. With the Baseball Winter Meetings finishing up, I thought it was as good of a time as any to finally post this 36 card set. Plus, I like how the larger images look on the site.
I pride myself on having a solid knowledge base on the sports memorabilia and trading card hobby, but to be honest, I really don't know very much about this set. Sure, I know all about the Star Co. and their regional releases from the 80's and very early 90's. I'm also well aware of Mr. October's exploits. However, I'm not really sure why these cards were produced as perforated threesomes. If anyone has any info to shed some light on the set, that would be great. I paid just under $5.00 including shipping for the set and am happy to add it to my collection. Here's an eBay listing that shows all twelve sheets from an open set.
As for the Winter Meetings, news is coming out that the Yanks are talking with Cliff Lee as you read about a seven year deal. With the Red Sox coming in late last night and signing Carl Crawford, the signing of Lee is imperative for the Yankees.
- Question: I'm sure there will be more moves and signings to come during the remainder of the MLB off-season, but how did your team do during the Winter Meetings/off-season thusfar?
Rookie cards are a huge part of the hobby that we love. Collectors chase down the first trading card of a player for a couple of reasons. There certainly are those who "collect" RC's as if they were stocks or commodities. Just look at the recent example of Stephen Strasburg's RC's. There also are those collectors who add a RC to their collection not because of the anticipated value, but rather for the thrill of owning a card of an athlete who they admired as a kid or even today. Maybe the RC of a player also reminds them of a particular time in their life or of a favorite team. If you are later of those types of collectors, than this Rookie Cards for $10 Bucks or Less series is for you.
This Rookie Cards for $10 Bucks or Less post features the 1984 Star Company RC of arguably one of the best collegiate basketball players of all-time, Ralph Sampson. Sampson was the #1 pick of the '83 NBA Draft out of the University of Virginia. As a collegiate player, there are few who can measure up to the career of the 7'-4'' Sampson. He was a three-time Naismith Collegiate Player of the Year award winner and two-time Wooden Award winner. He was also named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team in 2002.
After receiving that kind of hardware, it's no wonder Sampson was highly touted coming into the NBA during the '84 season. Many felt Sampson was going to dominate the NBA as he did the ACC, and he did for about a three and a half season span. Sampson and the then Akeem Olajuwan formed the devastating "Twin Towers" for the Rockets during the '85 season after Houston won the rights to the first pick overall for a second year in a row. The talented tandem formed an intimidating two-headed monster and eventually led the Rockets to a birth in the '86 NBA Finals against the vaunted Boston Celtics. The Rockets did go on to lose that series, but cemented themselves as a formidable team to dethrone the Lakers'-Celtics' dominance of the 80's with a core of young and up incoming superstars in Sampson and Olajuwan. Unfortunately, three knee surgeries derailed the promise and talent Sampson showed during his first three and a half seasons in the Association.
Sampson played for a number of NBA teams during the remainder of his career and was eventually waived during the '91-'92 NBA season by the then Washington Bullets. He finished his NBA career as the '84 NBA Rookie of the Year, '85 All-Star MVP, '85 All-NBA Second Team, Four-time NBA All-Star ('84-'87) and a whole lot of unfulfilled promise.
His '84 Star Company RC is a steal today with a book value of only $8.00. Many collectors and hoops fans forget just how dominate of an athlete Sampson truly was. His RC often sells for right around $.99 -$5.00. Here's a recently completed eBay Buy Now auction (click here). I really like the Star Company cards of the mid-80's. There obviously are a ton of noteworthy players in those sets like Jordan, Worthy, Jabbar, Thomas, Drexler, Wilkins, Ewing, Magic and Bird, but it's the simply design, photography and use of vibrant color that make these cards standout. Just look at the bright orange an red colors used on the Sampson RC. So if you're looking to add a solid RC to your collection at a modest expense, checkout the '84 Star Co. Ralph Sampson Rookie Card for $10 Bucks or Less and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".
